828 



Canadian Forestry Journal, November, ipi6 



A Forest Travelogue — Free to Local Speakers 



The fololwing is taken from the in- 

 troduction of one of the Canadian For- 

 estry Association's "Ready Prepared" 

 Lectures which are being sent to local 

 speakers in various parts of the Domin- 

 ion. 



The introductory section serves to 

 bring the audience into sympathy with 

 the subject — "Guarding the Forests." 

 At its close the stereopticon throws 

 upon the screen No. 1 of a set of 56 lan- 

 tern slides. The manuscript in the lo- 

 cal lecturer's hands contains descrip- 

 tive paragraphs adapted closely to the 

 pictures, which he proceeds to read. 



A Nova Scotia school's superinten- 

 dent wrote of one of these lectures : 

 "The lecture was well received and ap- 

 'parently heartily enjoyed throughout. 

 Our pupil-teachers who saw it should 

 be able to do much to help along the 

 conservation of forest land by their 

 teaching next year. It is an excellent 

 way to make impressive forest truths. 

 I would be obliged if you would notify 

 me when your new lectures are ready 

 for the public." 



An Introduction. 



"I feel confident that the time devot- 

 ed to our travelogue will make us bet- 

 ter acquainted with a most interesting 

 and benevolent friend, the Canadian 

 Forest. 



"We may have met him before in 

 various guises, as the friend of the 

 camper, the guardian of hunter and 

 fisherman, the inspiration of painter 

 and poet, but in our brief time to- 

 gether I would like to widen this ac- 

 quaintance. I would like you to look 

 upon the forests of Canada with more 

 than a mere personal recognition, to re- 

 gard them in their fuller utility as a 

 national possessio^l, building up a very 

 considerable part of our commercial 

 strength, co-operating with every con- 

 structive interest we have, and asking 

 nothing in return for their multitude of 

 benefactions. 



Looking Over Canada. 



Were we to take a journey by airship 



from coast to coast of Canada, there 

 would be unfolded to our eyes a picture 

 of our national possessions and activi- 

 ties, oddly inconsistent with some of 

 the ideas we form as residents of town 

 or countryside- Limited as our aver- 

 age outlook is apt to be, we reach con- 

 clusions colored a good deal by local 

 conditions. Thus, if the question were 

 put to us, individually, what are the 

 biggest and most important activities 

 of Canada, what answer would we 

 make? Assuming that we should all 

 agree on Agrictulture for the place of 

 honor, what second choice would be 

 forthcoming? Would not you or I 

 who live, let us say, under the prestige 

 of mighty steel industries in Nova Sco- 

 tia, hazard an opinion that steel-mak- 

 ing ranked with the first of Canada's 

 interests? Or, hailing from a British 

 Columbia town where salmon-packing 

 occupied half the population, would not 

 our sense of proportion expand on the 

 side of the national fisheries? As we 

 mounted mile high over the roofs of 

 cities and farms, the chains of lakes 

 and the dark matting of forests, how 

 the merely local outlook would dis- 

 solve away ! We would gaze upon a 

 very old Canada, but with a new sense 

 of proportion. Beneath our eyes 

 would loom even larger than ever the 

 immensity of Agriculture from Nova 

 Scotia and New Brunswick through 

 Quebec and Ontario and over the wide 

 plains of the prairies. But the thought 

 would clear the way for a true sur- 

 prise. W^e would se manufacturing 

 industries and fisheries and mining take 

 their proper relation in the map of the 

 nation's activities, and make humble 

 obeisance to a mighty older brother — 

 the great Canadian forests. 



Nature's Plan for Canada. 



No sooner have we satisfied our- 

 selves of the vastness of the nation's 

 forest riches than we indulge our specu- 

 lations upon another point. What was 

 Nature's scheme in shaping the soil of 

 Canada so that more than half of our 

 total area will profitably grow noth- 



